What did tourism learn from the COVID-19 pandemic?

Base image by DALL‑E. Prompt: Surrealist image of a viral particle in front of a classroom. “GT” added ‘Lessons’.

What was the main lesson of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has the travel & tourism industry learned it?

It’s a “Good Tourism” Insight Bites question.

Your correspondent put the question to the travel & tourism stakeholders in the “GT” network, inviting emailed written responses of no more than 300 words.

Thanks to the 10 respondents who shared their thoughts on the question. Their answers appear in the order received.

(Click/touch an item on the Bites menu to go straight to it.)

Bites menu

• Chinese travellers’ ‘fundamental lessons’ from COVID-19 | Wolfgang Georg Arlt
• Be prepared | Steve Noakes
• Co-operation, preparedness, adaptability, diversification | Rwaka Mabrise
• Modernity saved us | Jim Butcher
• The industry is not ready to learn lessons, unless … | K Michael Haywood
• If and how the industry learned anything is ‘far from clear’ | Ed Jackiewicz
• Governments care little about small businesses | Richard Butler
• ‘Lay the foundations for sustainability and resilience’ | S Fatemeh Mostafavi Shirazi
• Equip tourism students with transferable skills | Shamiso Nyajeka
• Travellers became more climate-conscious | Herb Hiller
• “GT” Insight BiteX (‘X’ is up to you)
• What do you think?